Great House

Lake-town was a settlement of Men built out onto the waters of the Long Lake, with many of its houses standing over the water on sturdy timber piles that rose up from the lake's bed. The town was constructed so that it surrounded an open circle of water, and built in the edges of this watery 'market-place' (as the people of Lake-town saw it) were some of the greatest halls and houses of the town.

Among these houses looking onto the town's inner pool was the Great House, the place where the Master of Lake-town held his councils and audiences, sitting in a great chair and looking down on a busy hall filled with tables. It was here that the Master received Thorin Oakenshield and his companions, and at that time the Great House was filled with eager townsfolk cheered by the prophesied return of the King under the Mountain.

The Master was doubtful of Thorin's claims, but nonetheless he aided the Dwarves and provisioned them for their onward journey to the Lonely Mountain. This proved to be a consequential decision, because the Dwarves finally succeeded in making their way into Erebor, angering Smaug in the process. Deducing the involvement of the Lake-men, the Dragon burst from the Mountain and sped across the Long Lake to attack the town, and the Master's Great House was one of the first to fall to the Dragon. Its roof was broken with a thunderous sweep of Smaug's tail and the ruins were set alight by the Dragon's fire, and so the Great House fell to ruin. Though Smaug would ultimately be slain by Bard the Dragon-shooter, he left the town on the Long Lake, and the Great House where its Master had sat, as a smoking ruin.